Sammy Lee has urged Liverpool to take motivation from what he witnessed from Galatasaray players after the first leg of the team’s Champions League round-of-16 tie last week.
The Turkish side take a 1-0 lead into the second leg on Wednesday night, courtesy of an early Mario Lemina goal in Istanbul, thus repeating the scoreline from when they previously hosted the Reds in the same competition earlier this season.
The Reds legend was in the tunnel at Rams Park after the match seven days ago when he noticed the unreserved jubilation of the home team’s players, and he’s implored Arne Slot to incorporate that into his team talk ahead of tomorrow’s clash.
Speaking on The Football Historian Podcast, Lee said: “It’s half-time in this game against Galatasaray. I was at the stadium in the tunnel at the end of the game when I heard them celebrating and singing and dancing. If they think the tie is over, I think they’re making a big mistake.
“It won’t be easy for Liverpool, for sure, but that’d be my team talk. Everyone could hear it. I saw Virgil van Dijk coming out doing interviews; he could hear it. Szoboszlai could hear it. The manager could hear it. It’s crucial for us.
“This Galatasaray team won’t be intimidated by us, so we’ve gotta make sure we’re on the front foot from the word ‘go’. It’s only half-time; we’re 1-0 down.”
Liverpool have a challenging task on their hands if they’ve to overturn the first-leg deficit tomorrow night, but as Lee has hinted, it’s far from an impossible ask, even with the Reds enduring a terrible season.
An early goal for the home side could help to settle them down and elicit a raucous reaction from the fans at Anfield, and Galatasaray will have the impediment of not having any of their supporters at the game due to UEFA sanctions over crowd trouble against Juventus last month.
Naturally their players would’ve been quite happy after the final whistle last week, but if they were as expressive in their post-match celebrations as what Lee is suggesting, they could be in for a rude awakening tomorrow if LFC adopt a proactive approach from the start.
Liverpool already had plenty of motivation to set things right at Anfield after their poor results and performances against Galatasaray and Tottenham Hotspur, and the genuine threat of missing out on the Champions League for next season must surely spark Slot’s team into a response on home turf.
The apparent actions of their opponents after last week’s game ought to act as an even further incentive to ensure that the mood on Thursday morning is buoyant rather than regretful.
🗣️ I was at the stadium in the tunnel at the end of the game when I heard them celebrating and singing and dancing. If they think the tie is over, I think they’re making a big mistake."
Sammy Lee urges Liverpool to use Galatasaray player's celebrations last week as motivation… pic.twitter.com/dgyB2blliJ
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) March 17, 2026
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